Category: Writing

Here begins a new chapter of interviews featuring members of the two awesome critique groups I belong to. Aud and I have been in the same group for about seven years now, and I’m delighted to invite her to my blog.

Welcome, Aud! I understand you have some news to share.

Aud: I’m excited to announce that one of my stories has been recently accepted for publication by Running Wild Press. It’s a novella for adults titled Broken Soul to Broken Soul, about two people with separate traumas who come together and help each other heal.

Gemma: That is exciting! I’ve read prior drafts of that novella, and it not only brought tears to my eyes, it gave me goosebumps, and also made me laugh! I’m so happy it’s going to be seen by a wide audience.

Gemma: I’d like to chat a bit about your past as a writer. How long have you known that you wanted to be a writer?
Aud: Ever since I was about 8 years old.
G: Do you remember what led you to that?
Aud: Two things:
One: I grew up in a chaotic environment and writing was my way to create order from chaos.
Two: As a kid, I couldn’t find stories that I wanted to read, so I made up my own.
G: Both of those are really compelling reasons. Writing is definitely a positive, powerful way to deal with chaos.

G: What’s your goal as a writer?
Aud: To entertain. I like it when a reader wonders, “What’s going to happen next?” My characters often make me laugh and/or cry. It’s my hope that they’ll do the same for my readers.
G: Your characters have definitely made me laugh! And sometimes make me yell their name out loud in frustration! But that’s only because I’ve come to care about them like friends. And Broken Soul to Broken Soul isn’t your only story that’s brought tears to my eyes.

G: What’s the first piece you wrote that you’re still proud of and/or happy with?
Aud: Standing Ovation. It was my first published book, put out by Ace Tempo Books. It’s a YA novel about a girl trumpet player who upsets her family’s balance when her dream of fame motivates her retired jazz musician father to come out of retirement. Sadly, this book is out of print. The last time I read Standing Ovation was during a train ride to an author presentation to promote another novel. Even though the book was old, it still made me laugh out loud!
G: Oh, I love that! Now, tell me more about that other novel.
Aud: That other novel was my second published book, I Almost Love You, Eddie Clegg, put out by Peachtree Publishers.

Eddie Clegg by Aud Supplee

Aud: It’s a middle grade novel about an 8th grade girl who begins to develop a father/daughter relationship with her alcoholic stepdad. Fun fact: That book was rejected over 30 times.
G: Wow! That is all too common, but still, how did you deal with all that rejection? What did you do next?
Aud: I had a few cool rejections for Eddie. One publisher wrote that the main character was “refreshing and endearing” and the book was “beautifully written,” but it wouldn’t fit their list. I remember saying to myself, “They don’t want refreshing and endearing characters or a beautifully written book?” Obviously, there’s nothing you can do with a rejection like that. A lot of the other letters were form rejections. They sting, but I’m blessed to have a significant other who always takes my side. Whenever I complain that publishers are stupid for rejecting me, he not only agrees with me, he tells me I’m a genius. (Laughter) They’re not really stupid; calling them that is just part of the process.
G: Dealing with rejection can be a multi-step process for sure!
Aud: After a day or so of whining about it and licking my wounds, I’ll put the manuscript aside for a while, then re-read the manuscript with a critical eye, make changes and submit it somewhere else. Here’s the other thing about Eddie. I loved that story and the characters and I believed in it enough that I would have kept going until somebody accepted it. Also, it didn’t hurt that whenever I’d ask my husband if I’d ever be published again he always said, “Yes.” And he’s the most indecisive person I know!! (Laughter)
G: It’s wonderful to have so much support! And that you were dedicated to your characters and your story.

G: Now, what’s the hardest part of writing for you?
Aud: The dreaded first draft. Once that one’s out of the way, the rest is pure joy.
G: What’s the best?
Aud: Editing! I love polishing and seeing how a raw idea evolves.
G: Wow – for me, it’s just the opposite. I really enjoy the first draft. The editing makes me sweat. Of course, having a great critique group really helps. Even if their hard questions are sometimes what make me sweat the most!

G: Is there a place that you’ve lived, or visited, that especially influences your writing?
Aud: When I was 15, I spent a summer at a lake in Maine with relatives. It ended up being the setting for Broken Soul to Broken Soul, as well as for my adult short story, “Monkey in the Middle,” also accepted by RWP for their next short story anthology.
G: Congratulations on that acceptance! And a lake shows up in your book trailer, too.

G: A lot of writers when they start out emulate other writers, consciously or not. Can you think of any authors you emulated?
Aud: This probably makes me different from the average author; I began life as a reluctant reader. As a kid, I didn’t think anybody wrote stories I wanted to read, so I started writing for myself. When it comes to emulating, I probably emulated lively stories and conversations I’d heard when my mother and grandmother met for coffee. I think that’s why I enjoy writing dialog so much. Without realizing it, I paid attention to the cadence of their voices.
G: That’s very cool! And I can vouch for your dialogue – it just feels so real when I read it.

G: What writers do you most admire?
Aud: Right out of college I couldn’t get enough of Kurt Vonnegut. Back then I was also a big fan of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. I was also impressed with Stephen King’s down-to-earth dialog.

G: What authors do you read most and enjoy most now?
Aud: I like Timothy Keller and Andy Stanley. Both are Christian nonfiction writers. As for fiction, the actual author doesn’t matter. If it’s a fantasy, cozy mystery, romance, literary fiction, Christian fiction, middle grade, YA, or anything about horses, I’ll pretty much read it. Good or bad. You can learn a lot about the art of writing by reading really bad fiction.
G: You know, you’ve got a good point. I’ll have to remember that the next time some writing doesn’t impress me.

G: What are you reading presently, or most recently?
Aud: I just finished a YA novel about a girl surfer titled, We Thought We Were Invincible, by Michelle Lynn. I’m bad with names, I only know that author’s name because I just checked it on my Kindle. (Laughter)

G: And what are you working on now?
Aud: Edits to my middle grade novel called, This Way/That Way.
G: We’re reading that story at our critique group now, and I’m really enjoying getting to know your heroine, Nickie. She’s quite a character!

G: What is the next project you hope to do?
Aud: It better be book three of my Frama-12 trilogy. (Laughter)
G: Good, because having read the drafts for the first two, I can’t wait to find out what happens in book three!

Meanwhile, I’ve been hard at work on my fantasy novel. If you look deeply into my author photo, you can catch a peek at early lines from my first draft.

All right, honestly, I haven’t been writing it with quill and ink, but I do write the first drafts longhand. I like the ease and physical contact of writing with pen and paper.

During this year, Running Wild Press has been busy with many awesome projects – just check out their twitter. Among their latest offerings are writing courses.

From RWP: we’re launching a fully online creative writing program.

Want to join a supportive, online writing community for feedback and encouragement? Take a Running Wild Press writing course.

These fully online courses will be taught in 4 to 8-week formats entirely online by experienced instructors from higher education institutions from around the country.

Three of these courses will be taught by my anthology colleagues Elan Barnehama, Nick Mazzuca, and Amelia Kibbie. I heartily vouch for their writing abilities, because their stories are honestly some of my favorites. Check out my interviewswiththem for more about them and their stories.

To close this chapter of interviews with my Running Wild Anthology colleagues, I’m very pleased to feature Amelia Kibbie. Her story, “Idylls of the King,” moved and enchanted me.

Welcome, Amelia!

Is there a part of the Anthology’s cover collage that reminds you of your story?
The image that I think reflects my story the best is on the far left. It looks like a person with dark pants standing with their hand open but facing back, perhaps to take someone else’s hand. The figure is wearing a black glove. It reminds me of “Idylls of the King” because the picture does look historical, and my piece is a LGBT WWII romance, and it could also represent James reaching back to take Arthur’s hand so they can stand together.

Would you add anything to the cover to hint at your story?
A sword. In the story, Arthur is given a sword that represents the mythical Excalibur, and it inspires him to reach his full potential and be true to himself in declaring his love for James.

What do you like best to write?
That’s funny, because honestly I would have to say horror and fantasy, which is a pretty far cry from “Idylls.” But to be real, I love to write pretty much everything if I’m invested in the plot and characters.

What’s the biggest stretch for you to write?
I don’t typically write things I don’t like to write, but if someone paid me to write a traditional hetero romance where the proper girl falls for the bad boy, or a Twilight style scenario where the guy’s actually a stalker with no boundaries and the girl defines her existence based on her relationship, I would have a really hard time writing that. But, if you’re offering me money, I’d make it work.

Where do your stories fall on the plot-driven vs. character-driven spectrum?
I’d like to think they’re equal. Typically I come up with the plot idea, and then develop the characters after that. When it’s brewing in my mind they tend to develop relatively simultaneously.

What authors did you love most as a kid? Now? What authors have influenced your writing most?
As a younger kid, I was way into Patricia C. Wrede, Betty Wren Wright, and Brian Jacques. My teen years focused on Stephen King and Anne Rice. In college, I got into Chuck Palahniuk and Brett Easton Ellis. Now I read anything and everything I can get my hands on and I’m not all that particular. I learn something from everything I read. I’d have to say my current favorite author is Hillary Mantel.

Is there a place that you’ve lived (or visited) that most influences your writing?
I’m from Iowa, so there are a lot of Midwestern culture and themes in my work. However, I’ve done a lot of traveling, and visited France and New Orleans several times. I’ve been to England, and did quite a few historical tours of WWII sites, which helped in the writing of “Idylls of the King” and the follow up novel, Legendary.

What’s the first piece you wrote that you’re still proud of/happy with?
The first place I was really published was on the website BigWorldNetwork.com. They publish stories in installments as serial fiction. I have a fantasy novel there called Harvest of Ash. The first two seasons are available on the site. I have the third season written, but the new managers of the site don’t want to see anything until the series has concluded. I still have to write Season 4. When I turned 30, I decided that it was now or never to accomplish my dream of being a writer. When I was 31 I had my daughter, and I used her nap time during my maternity leave to write Harvest of Ash. I love that book and I hope to finish it someday. It’s a gritty retelling of Cinderella with echoes of Game of Thrones.

What have you been up to since the Anthology came out? Any other news?
I have written a follow-up novel to “Idylls of the King” called Legendary. It takes place about ten years after the short story, though the short story is included in the narrative as a flashback. The plot revolves around James and Arthur as they journey to find someone given up for lost many years ago. On the way they grapple with society’s judgmental treatment of gay people, and some rocky aspects of their own relationship.

What do you plan to work on next?
Man, I have a to-do list! I need to finish Harvest of Ash, as well as a story I have on Wattpad that some of the students I work with are reading. I tell them if they get their homework done and pass their classes, I will write another chapter. I owe them a chapter right now! I’m also working with a filmmaker on a screen play about the Holocaust.

For my penultimate interview with one of my Running Wild Anthology colleagues, it’s my pleasure to feature Julie Doherty. Her story, “Justice,” left me a little shaken, but satisfied.

Welcome, Julie!

Is there a part of the Anthology’s cover collage that reminds you of your story?

Probably the section with the stark tree. I’m certain the main character in “Justice” feels that bleak and lonely, since he’s an abused boy surrounded by pampered show dogs.

What do you like best to write?
I love writing horror, which sounds silly coming from a romance author. If you think about it, though, love and fear are two of our most powerful emotions, so maybe it makes sense that I enjoy writing about both.

What’s the biggest stretch for you to write?
Because I slip into my characters’ skins to tell their stories, it makes me something of a writing chameleon. So far, I haven’t found any genre more challenging than the rest.

Where do your stories fall on the plot-driven vs. character-driven spectrum?
My books are largely plot-driven, but they include well-developed characters with plenty of inner conflict.

What authors did you love most as a kid? What authors have influenced your writing most?
Laura Ingalls-Wilder completely transported me to that little house on the prairie. I even remember the smell of those books. Wonderful memories. I think every author has taught me something, though; sometimes, what not to do. (I’m probably that author for a lot of people. Ha!)

Is there a place that you’ve lived (or visited) that most influences your writing?
Since my stuff is Plaid to the Bone, I suppose it’s no surprise if I respond with . . . Scotland. The bens and braes, the heilan’ coos, the swaggering rogues in kilts. *sigh*

What’s the first piece you wrote that you’re still proud of/happy with?
I’m proud of each of them, because let’s face it, finishing a novel is a major accomplishment. But happy? Are authors ever completely happy with a story? I think most are chronic editors. I can’t read any of my published works without wanting to change something. However, I’m especially proud of THE SCENT OF FOREVER, my most recent release. I kind of nailed that one. Here’s the link.

What have you been up to since the Anthology came out? Any other news?
Soul Mate Publishing released THE SCENT OF FOREVER, and I signed with that same house for the release of my fourth novel, A VALLEY TOO FAR. I’ve spent most of the summer renovating my 1926 Colonial Craftsman home and trying not to molder. It rained all summer in Pennsylvania!

What do you plan to work on next?
I started another contemporary romance about a disabled vet who courts an old high school sweetheart by sending her messages with a drone. Unfortunately, I got about 35,000 words in and decided I wasn’t happy with the direction the story was taking. So, I decided to take a short break from writing, reset my creative brain, and come back at it in the fall. I’m starting to get the urge to look at it again. In a week or two, we’ll probably be out of clean clothes again because the laundry maid is stuck to her laptop.

Julie has hosted her own fun interviews of Anthology authors and others on her website here. You can read her interview of me right here.
Thanks for the great interviews, Julie, and for taking part in my blog!

Continuing in my series of interviews with my Running Wild Anthology colleagues, I’m very pleased to feature Nick Mazzuca. Nick’s story “Buck It and Bolt” is great sci-fi with a gritty soul and lots of heart.

Welcome, Nick!

Is there part of the Anthology’s cover collage that reminds you of your story?
I really like the inserts of black-and-white photographs layered under the color overlays – it reminds me of the Cowboy Bebop opening, which is another piece of science fiction centered around regular folks grinding their way through their days.

Would you add anything to the cover to hint at your story?
I’d put a diffused starscape in the background.

What do you like best to write?
I enjoy throwing characters into impossible, no-win situations and seeing how they crawl out.

What’s the biggest stretch for you to write?
I’m great at figuring out the how of world-building, but getting my characters to sing requires a lot of effort.

Where do your stories fall on the plot-driven vs. character-driven spectrum?
I try to cut it straight down the middle. Plot is there for characters to struggle against. Characters are there to survive what the plot throws at them.

What authors did you love most as a kid? Now? What authors have influenced your writing most?
I was a huge fan of Clarke, Peter David, Harlan Ellison, Conan Doyle, and Rosemary Sutcliffe growing up. Frank Herbert’s examination of societies through personal point of view still informs much of my artistic worldview, though I very much reject the “Great Man” theory underpinning it. Right now I’m enjoying Shelley and LeGuin.

Is there a place that you’ve lived (or visited) that most influences your writing?
I grew up in Nebraska, but moving to Philly really did cement my notion of what a city can represent for a people. Economics, sociology, and history really do come together to create the vibe Philly has. Philly is weird, but you never see a bumper sticker saying “Keep Philly Weird.” It stays that way on its own.

What’s the first piece you wrote that you’re still proud of/happy with?
My Master’s Thesis: The Dreamer Deepe. It’s a Lovecraftian horror play that I wrote close to a decade ago. There’s a ton wrong with it, but it moves and has a solid sense of space and place.

What have you been up to since the Anthology came out?
One of my plays had a reading at the Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference. Spending a week binging theatre and taking nature photos in one of the most magnificent places on Earth… doesn’t suck.

What do you plan to work on next?
I’m restarting work on a sci-fi horror play as well as getting the outline of a screenplay about alien abduction into gear.

How can readers connect with you?
Twitter for my random musings and angry political scoldings: twitter.com/nickmazzuca
Instagram for lots of striking images (and the occasion fuzzy friend!) @nickmazzuca

Thanks for being part of my blog, Nick! It’s great to hear your news and plans, and I wish you the best success with them!

As I continue this series of interviews with my Running Wild Anthology colleagues, I’m particularly pleased to welcome Laura Selinsky; she and I have been members of the same critique group for many years. Her story, “Sea Wall,” touched me with its bittersweet poignancy.

Welcome, Laura!

Our Anthology’s cover has gotten comments that it evokes a sense of many varied stories inside.

Does any part of the cover remind you of your story?
I’m not sure the cover reminds me of my specific story, but it does remind me of a library. There is no place where I feel more at home than a library…except maybe the library of my childhood. My hometown library was over the fire station and when the alarms went off- Phew!

Would you add anything to the cover to hint at your story?
I’d add a sifting of sand across the cover. Nothing hints at slow passing time like the imperceptible movement of a sand dune; that’s why the protagonist crosses a sand dune in my story.

What do you like best to write?
I love writing YA high fantasy, so much flexibility in writing magic, alternate species, new cultures, etc. Conversely, all that world-building requires many self-generated rules, and a passion for consistent application of the rules from page to page.

What’s the biggest stretch for you to write?
The hardest thing for me to write is a contemporary teenager; I am excruciatingly careful not to pirate my high school students’ lives. I used to teach adjudicated teens, and I have a novel that considers the juvenile justice system. When I work on that particular novel, I have to be cautious to limit what I know to generalizations, not specific experiences.

Where do your stories fall on the plot-driven vs. character-driven spectrum?
Character-driven! I love tossing two characters in a room and seeing what happens. In the anthology, the story is actually “Image-driven.” I started from the image of a seawall and wondered how it affected or reflected the people who pass it each day.

What authors did you love most as a kid? Now? What authors have influenced your writing most?
When I was read-aloud aged, I loved Kipling because my mom read me the original JUNGLE BOOKS. Later I loved the mythology that I found in my school library, and I still teach elective mythology to high school students. My adult fantasy writing is influenced by the usual suspects, Tolkien, Kay, Mallory… In a practical sense, my writing is influenced by my critique group, which calls me to account for my nonsense and encourages me through my discouragement.

Is there a place that you’ve lived or visited that most influences your writing?
We used to camp in Maine when I was a girl, so I have to watch myself or I’ll write endless cool misty mornings.

What’s the first piece you wrote that you’re still proud of/happy with?
Of my adult writing, I’m proudest of a magazine article about working with high-functioning autistic students. Advise magazine, where the article appeared, has a run of 50,000. I loved the idea of seeing my students fairly portrayed and offered every option for fulfillment in their school lives in a magazine that landed on the desks of 50,000 teachers.

What have you been up to since the Anthology came out? Any other news?
Since the Anthology came out, I signed my first contract for a novel with Anaiah Press. Very exciting!

What do you plan to work on next?
I’m editing the contracted novel under the supervision of my publisher. I am always editing some portion of my fantasy trilogy. I’m also goddess of grammar on my son’s doctoral dissertation…the only part of that I understand is whether the commas are in the right place.

Anything else you’d like to add?
At my first writing conference, I was advised to find a good critique group and stick with it. Best. Advice. Ever. Nothing has contributed more toward making me a thoughtful writer than the critique group I’ve attended for the last eight years. Gemma Brook, the owner of this website, is also the leader of that critique group under the auspices of Pennwriters. Kudos for your leadership, Gemma!

Thank you for the kind words, Laura! Our critique group is really a co-operative effort, and I’ll vouche for you as being not only a goddess of grammar, but a most beneficent one!

Congratulations on your upcoming novel! And thank you for taking part in my blog (and for all your excellent critiquing).

Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing. What do you like best to write?
I like writing flash fiction and novels. Opposite ends of the story spectrum – but I like the way they influence each other.

Where do your stories fall on the plot-driven vs. character-driven spectrum?
I would say my stories are more character driven as I like knowing who people are, who characters are. Of course, it’s impossible to separate who they are from how they are in a situation. So maybe the easy answer is both. Clearly, plot influences the choices a character makes, but how they respond reveals who they are.

What authors did you love most as a kid? Now? What authors have influenced your writing most?
When I read EAST OF EDEN as a kid – my mother gave it to me– I loved it and it was the first time I thought to see what else a writer had written. That was followed by falling in love and in awe of the characters and the writing of J.D. Salinger, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Bob Dylan, and others. Later Toni Morrison and Thomas Pynchon came and knocked me over.

Is there a place that you’ve lived (or visited) that most influences your writing?
I was born and raised in New York City, and while I have lived away from the city more than I lived in it, New York continues to be a large part of who I am. But I have also spent time in Los Angeles, and it’s become a part of me and is the setting of the novel I am working on.

What have you been up to since the Anthology came out? Any other news?
My story in the anthology, “Just Be,” is an excerpt from my novel, ESCAPE ROUTE – which is making rounds with agents/publishers. Since the Anthology was published, another excerpt of Escape Route, “Raining In The Holy Land,” was published in JewishFiction.net, September 2018.

In July, I had a new piece of flash fiction, “Snowflakes and Earthquakes,” published by DrunkMonkeys.us. A book I helped edit, “A Mile In Our Shoes — Personal Stories of Global Journeys,” will be published by Whyte Tracks Publisher, Denmark, in September 2018. And, my flash story, “Everyone to Dance,” will be published in the October issue of BostonAccent.com.

What do you plan to work on next?
I am working on a new novel about starting over and taking risks that is set in Los Angeles.

Our Anthology, as several people have commented to me, has an evocative cover that hints at a collage of varied stories inside.

What part of the cover reminds you of your story?
There is a picture of what appears to be a body lying face-up on the ground. It’s a good hint at where my story ends up.

What element would you hypothetically add to the cover to hint at your story?
I may have added a ghostly figure looking down at the body.

What do you like best to write?
My writing leans towards dark fiction. I like to explore the darker aspects of the natural and supernatural worlds or more precisely, what is it that drives people to the edge either in struggling with their own personal demons, external forces or both combined. Sometimes I just like to throw a character into a tension-filled situation and see what happens.

What’s the biggest stretch for you to write?
Romance. The style of writing I lean towards does not naturally lend itself to typical commercial romances. Now in saying that, gothic romance, that I could do and have done in another published short story titled, “Frozen Beauty.”

Where do your stories fall on the plot-driven vs. character-driven spectrum?
Definitely character-driven. With a psychology background I love to poke around in the inner world of people, dead or alive.

What authors did you love most as a kid? And now? What authors have influenced your writing most?
As a kid I was drawn to mystery/thrillers like Nancy Drew and Christopher Pike. That evolved to a slight obsession with Anne Rice, Tolkien and Stephen King as a teenager. Now, I read so many different kinds of authors. Interestingly, because I write darker fiction I’m not as drawn to read it (which I should!) but instead like to sit with a good literary novel, Marian Keyes or non-fiction.

Is there a place that you’ve lived (or visited) that most influences your writing?
I am very influenced by setting of places I have lived and travelled. “Visiting Friends” was interesting because I wrote about a place I researched whereas a lot of the settings in my other stories are typically based on a place from my past or present. I’ve used my hometown in Southwestern Ontario, my grandparent’s farm where I spent a lot of time as a child and of course my current home in Prince Edward County. One story was a combination of where I live now and the French countryside and a small costal town in Spain called Tossa del Mar. I love wandering in places and often take pictures of setting, buildings or scenes that catch my fancy and use them as prompts for a lot of my stories.

What’s the first piece you wrote that you’re still proud of/happy with?
Actually, “Visiting Friends,” was one of the first short stories I wrote that I felt captured what my style of short story writing was – it opened up creative flood of short stories that I wrote over a year and felt confident enough to submit.

What have you been up to since the Anthology came out? Any other news?
Since the Anthology launched I’ve had two other short stories published. One called “Monika Unraveling” in Weirdbook Magazine #39, and an online story production site, thebreakroomstories.com, published one of my previously published short stories, “Silent Houses.”

What do you plan to work on next?
This past summer I took a bit of a writing break so now I’m back at it. I have a few short stories I am submitting and a whack of them to finish. I also am working on my third novel and debating whether to finish it or fine tune my two other manuscripts. Decisions, decisions.

And finally, a question from your own interview of other authors that you would like to answer:

Are you a panster or a plotter?
I am a panster by nature. For various reasons, time constraints and how my brain works, I need to let a story or character develop organically and sometimes in frantic spurts. I akin it to an Advent calendar and opening up those little doors to get glimpses of plot or follow the story/character. I have to be very disciplined to sit down and commit to a plot, which I have done when it needs to be done, but it’s not my nature of writing. It can be good and frustrating to write. I’ve learned to write an outline on longer projects, although I’ll go through at least two or three until the story reveals itself enough for me to make sense of a manuscript.

How can readers connect with you?www.smalltowngal.com. All my social media information is there as well as links to my blogs and where to find my published works.

Thank you for having me answer the questions! I hope the readers liked the entire anthology. It was great to work with Running Wild Press and meet an amazing group of authors.

I agree entirely, Rebecca – the Anthology is full of excellent stories, and it’s a pleasure to get to know some of you. I’m glad to hear of your recent publications. And thank you for taking part in my blog!